Coin collector apparatus



June 17, 1941. R, PEEK, JR 2,245,814

COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS /A/VEA/TOR ByRLPEE/f, JR.

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A TTORNEV June 17, 1941. R. PEEK, JR

COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS Filed Aug. 19, 1938 4 SheebSr-Sheel'l 2 mw hv /Nl/E/VTOR BV RLPEE/QJR.

ATTORNEY June 17, 1941a R. l.. PEEK, ,1R COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS Filed Aug. 19, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. /3

June 17, 1941.

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A 7' TOR/VEV Patented `lune 17, 1941 COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS Robert L. Peek, Jr., Townley, N. J., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 19, 193s, serial No. 225,723

(o1. lis-340) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to coin collector apparatus and more particularly to a moving coil operated coin collector system for a telephone pay station.

The invention is particularly suitable for use in a telephone pay station of the type illustrated in the O. F. Forsberg U. S. Patent No. 1,043,219, issued November 5, 1912, wherein a deposited coin is temporarily held upon a pivoted coin trap after actuating a coin trigger for causing the operation of a signal at the central oilice to indicate that communication is desired and for establishing an energizing circuit for a coin relay utilized subsequently in the disposition of the deposited coin. At the termination of the conversation, battery at the central oice may be applied to energize the coin relay whereby the actuation of its armature serves to collect the coin if the applied voltage is of one polarity and to refund the coin if the applied voltage is of the opposite polarity. The coin trap upon which the coin is temporarily held may be supported by a pivoted coin vane controlled by the relay to release the trap and direct the coin into the desired collect or refund channel. The operation of this relay also serves to restore the coin trigger to normal thereby reopening the electrical contacts controlled thereby.

An object of this invention is to simplify the construction and cost of manufacture of the coin relay and associated switching mechanism while providing for ei'cient operation over a wide range in energizing current and load.

In accordance with the preferred form of this invention the coin relay comprises a coil rotatable in the eld of a permanent magnet in such a manner that only one side of the coil lies in the air-gap of Vthe magnetic circuit. For example, the relay may comprise a permanent magnet and a return path joined to one end of the magnet but with an air-gap between the free end of the magnet and said path. The portion of the return path adjacent the free end of the magnet is preferably arcuately shaped and is encircled by a movable coil pivoted about the axis of the arcuately shaped portion. Special means are provided for causing the movement of the coil when traversed by current to control the disposition of any deposited coin and to reset the coin trigger for the purpose previously described.

l Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section of the central portion of a telephone coin collector employing a coin relay of the moving coil type;

Fig. 2 illustrates a telephone coin collector substation circuit employing the apparatus or" this invention;

Fig. 3 is a side view partly in section of the coin hopper and the coin relay with all parts in normal position;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the coin relay taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a front view of the coin relay taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a top view of the coin relay of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a side View of the coin trigger and associated spring contacts with the coin trigger occupying its coin actuated position;

Fig. 8 is a top view of the coin trigger and associated spring contacts with the coin trigger in coin actuated position;

Fig. 9 is similar to Fig. 4 except that the moving coil of the relay is in its coin collecting position;

Fig. 10 is similar to Fig. 5 except that the moving coil of the relay is in its coin collecting position;

Fig. 11 is a side view of the coin trigger and associated apparatus taken along the line Il-II of Fig. 10 and shows the spring contacts in position to permit the coin trigger to be restored to normal;

Fig. 12 is a view of the coin relay similar to Fig. 4 except that the moving coil is in coin refunding position;

Fig. 13 is a sectional View oi the moving coil and associated mechanism taken along the line |3-I3 of Fig. 12; and

Fig. 14 illustrates a modication of the coin relay of the earlier gures.

Fig. 1 shows only a portion of a telephone coin collector of a type disclosed in the above-mentioned Forsberg patent to which reference is made for further details as to its general construction and methods of operation. A coin deposited by a subscriber, after passage through a coin chute I5 in upper housing IS, drops into a coin hopper I1, actuates a coin trigger I8 and is temporarily retained upon a pivoted coin trap I9. The present invention is concerned with an electromagnetic structure or relay particularly adapted for use in a collector of the Forsberg type for controlling the collection or refund of the deposited coins.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3 to 5, brackets 25, 2l suitably supported within the lower housing 22 serve to support a coin relay having a magnetic circuit comprising a straight bar magnet 23 mounted vertically upon the base portion 24 of a D-shaped return path 25 of magnetic material. The upper portion 26 of this return path is arcuate shaped and preferably has a centrally located air-gap 21, 27 of substantial width, for a purpose to be described later. Mounted on the upper free end of permanent magnet 23 by means of screw 28 is a pole-piece 28, the upper face of which is curved to form with return path portion 2B an air-gap of substantially constant width except that the pole-piece has a coil 33 which encircles the magnetic return pathV Y 26. Since portion 26 of the return path is curved about the axis 36, 19 as a center, it follows that coil 33 can move freely in either direction from its normal position of Fig. 4 with one side of coil 33 lying in the air-gap between pole-piece 2S and return path 26. It is therefore obvious that when current traverses coil 33 the coil will be deflected from its neutral position in a direction determined by the direction the current flows through the coil.

Independently pivoted onthe same bearing pin 30 as coil arm 32 but spaced from arm 32 inthe direction of coinhopper |1 is an arm 36 which-a'short distance above its pivoting' axis carries stud 31 extending laterally into slot 36 in arm 32. The upper end of arm 36 is forked to embrace a 'pin 39 which forms a part of coin Vane 4|) and projects through'an arcuate slot 4| in side wall I42 of coin hopper l1. VVane 46 is similar to the corresponding Vane in the Forsberg patent and normally lies in a Vertical position Ysupporting coin trap I9, but when the Vane is deflected one Way or the other any coin on the trap will vbe discharged into a collect chute 43Y or a'refund chute 44. In order to center arm 36 and vane 46 in their normal neutral position, a light helical spring 86 (Figs. 4 andl13) `is coiled around the bearing pin 36 withjon'e` end 8| passing through a hole in arm 36 andthe other end 2passing into a hole in magnetic member 25.

vSpring means are provided for biasing coil 33 to its position of Fig. 4 and for restoring the coil to that position after it has been deflected due to the passage of current therethrough. Suitably -supported at the upper ends of the supporting arms 45, 46 is a bracket34 to which are clamped two springs 41, 48 biased to occupy the parallel positions shown in Fig. 5 with their lower ends bowed slightly outwardly to receive a stud49 mounted on coilsupporting arm 3| at a point a shortdistance above the pivoting axis of arm 3|.. Springs 41, .48 are only lightly tensionedagainst their stops .41, 48 as their main purposeis to ,merelyY bring the Acoil exactly to its neutral position after the coil has reached itsapproximate neutral position by other spring means.` The main restoring force exerted on thecoil when in a deflected position is due to f oneV of the ,twoU-shaped springs 56 5l which are biasedagainst their stops 56', 5|. One end ofV each of these U-shaped springs is clamped in fixed position in block 34 while the free ends of these springs terminate in horizontal tab portionsn55,56. 'Theinner vertical arms of springs '56,' 5| are normally spaced a short distance .from studs 51, 58 carried by springs 41, 43. Hence withcoil 33 in its neutral position of Fig. 4 or 5 Where'it is maintained by springs 41, 48,.the heavy springs 56, 5| exertv no pressure onY the coil supporting arms. But when the coil 33 is moved from the position of Fig. 4 or 5 to the position 'say of Fig. l0, the pin 49 on coil arm 3| will iirst deflect spring 41 and the deflection of spring 41 will thencause stud 56 onfspring 41 to contact with the inner portion of spring 5|, therebydefiecting springs 41, 5| to the `positions shown in Fig. 10.

Thisfdeflection ot the U-shaped spring 5| Cal will cause its tab portion 56 to be raised upwardly, as will be shown by comparing Fig. 5 with Fig. 10. This raising of spring end 56 when the coil 33 is moved counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, or the corresponding lifting of spring end 55 when coil 33 is moved clockwise,

as viewed in Fig. 5, is utilized to control elecsioned against pin |69 when the springs are in normal position.

The upwardly extending supporting arms 45, 46 support several brackets, one of vwhich (bracket 63) has a vertical member 56 having spaced apertured lugsV for supporting the pin 63 about which the coin trigger I8 is pivoted.

The normal position of the coin trigger I8 isA shown in Fig. 3, and while it is biased in a clockwise direction by its counterweight 6|, the

coin trigger is held in the position shown in that figure due to trigger projection 62 Ycontacting against stop 59.

Plate 63 supported by arms 45, 46 has a vertical extension 64 for supporting a horizontally disposed springk pile-up comprising two horizontally disposed contact springs 65, 66 and a biasing spring 61, thelatter of which is biased in a vdirection to close contacts 65, 66' but is restrained from so'doing when the coin trigger i8 is in its normal position,.as in Figs. 3 and 6, where it will be noted that the counterweight 6| has a downwardly extending arm 68 normally interposed between biasing spring 61 and contact springs 65, 66 whereby the biasing spring is made ineffective to close the contacts. It will be noted from Fig. 6 that biasing spring 61 is substantially longer than springs 65, 66 so that only the end of spring 61 lies in the path of trigger extension 66. This downwardly extending arm 68 has a horizontally disposed tab 69 projecting away from the trigger pivot 60, but this tab 69 performs no function as long as the coin trigger I8 is in its normal position, but after the coin actuation of trigger |8 this tab' 66 is utilized for a certain purpose to be described later. When the trigger I8 is actuated by'a deposite-dv coin it initially moves to the dotted line position of Fig. '1, whereby its arm 66 ismoved out of the path of spring 61 thereby enabling the free end of spring 61 to move away from the coin hopper and close the contacts 65, 66 as shown in Figs. '1 and 8. After the passage of the coin the counterweight 6| tends to restore the trigger |8 to normal but it is restrained when the tab 69 on arm 68 comes to rest on the top of the displaced biasing spring 61, as shown in the full line position of the coin trigger in Fig. 7.

The apparatus for resetting coin trigger I3 and reopening contacts 65, 66 will now be eX- plained. Mounted upon plate 63 is an upwardly extending bracket 16 having spaced apertured lugs for supporting a pivoting pin 1| for an angular lever 12. Lever 12 has a vertical arm 13 bearing a stud 14 against which' the springs 65, Stv-are pressed by biasing spring 61 when the coin trigger i6 is in its coin actuated position. Lever 12 also has two spaced horizontal arms 15, 16 with the end of arm 15 resting on the tab 55 of U-shaped spring 50 and the end of arm 'I6 resting on the tab portion 56 of the U-shaped spring It has been previously described that when coil 33 is moved from its neutral position of Fig. 4 to the deiiected position of Fig. 9 or 10, the resulting deflection of spring 5| serves to elevate the upper end portion 56 of that spring. Since lever 12 has one of its horizontal armsA resting on tab portion 55, it follows that the raising of tab 56 will move lever arm 'I6 upwardly, which will move the vertical'arm '|3 of angular lever '|2 towards theV coin hopper; and since the free end portion of spring contact 55 lies against stud 'I4 carried on the upper end of vertical arm '|3, it follows that the movement of vertical arm 13 towards the coin hopper will cause the ends of springs l|55, 66, 61 to be deflected towards the coin hopper a distance suliicient to remove spring 61 from beneath tab E9 so as to enable arm 58 of the coin trigger to freely drop down on the side of biasing spring 6l' remote from the hopper, where it was located originally before the coin actuation of the trigger. However, as long as coil 33 remains in its deflected position of Fig. 9 or 10, spring contacts 65, 66 will remain closed due to the pressure thereon exerted by lever arm 13, which'remains in its deected position of Fig. 11 as long as coil 33 remains in its deected position.

As shown in the substation circuit of Fig. 2, the closing of contacts 65, |56 establishes a circuit from line conductor through coil 33 to ground whereby when battery at the central oflice is applied to conductor |'|,r coil 33 will be deflected in a direction dependent upon the polarity of the applied voltage.

The method of operation of the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 13, inclusive, may be brieiiy reviewedas follows. The apparatus is shown in normal position in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6. When a coin is deposited in coin hopper I1 it iirst actuates the coin trigger |8 to the dotted line position of Fig. 7 and after the passage of the coin, counterweight 3| tends to restore the trigger to normal but is temporarily stopped in the full line position of Fig. 7 where projection 69 strikes the top edge of biasing spring 6l which has now moved over to close contacts 55, 65. In the meantime, the coin has come to rest on coin trap Hl,l

The closure of. contacts 65, 55 applies ground on one side of the line through coil 33 and thereby actuates a signal at the central oice to indicate that a telephone connection is desired. At the termination of the conversation battery may be applied to conductor to dispose or" the coin on trap I9 either by directing the coin into vcollect chute t3 or to refund chute 44. If the polarity of the voltage is such that coil 33 is deflected from its position of Figs. 4' and 5 to its position of Figs. 9 and 10 the coin will be discharged into collect chute 43. As previously explained, trap I9 is held in its normal position by pivoted vane 4Q, and vane ISB has a projecting pin 39 held in place by an arm 36 which is deflected with the deflection of coil 33. The only load initially acting against the deflected coil is due to the light pressure exerted by one of the springsdl, 48, since neither spring 55 or 5| is effective -in the initial portion of the deflection and the coin vane load is not picked up immediately because pin 3l, carried by vane arm 36, is not rigidly fastened to coil arm 32 but projects into a small arcuate slot 3S in arm 32. However, after coil 33 has moved through a small angle towards its completely deected position of. Fig. 9, the U-shaped spring 5| will be picked up and deiiected and the pin 31 will also be picked up to actuate coin vane 4U to the position shown in Fig. 9 with vane pin 39 striking the end of slot 4|. With vanev 4l) in its deected posit-ion coin trap I9 is free to discharge any coins thereon into collect chute 43 whereupon the counterweight of the coin trap i9 serves to restore the trap to its horizontal position as shown in Fig. 3.

The actuation of coil 33 from its position of Fig. 4 or 5 to its position of Fig. 9 or 10 will also tilt angular lever 12 towards the coin hopper to move biasing spring S1 towards the hopper far enough to permit the coin trigger, due to its counterweight, to move from the dotted line position of Fig. l1 to the solid line position of that ligure so that the extending arm 58 now lies in the path along which spring Eil will tend to move as soon as the pressure on the spring pile-up, due to lever 72, has been removed.

When collect battery at the central oiiice is disconnected from line conductor the deected restoring spring 5i acting through spring 41 on pin 49, will exert sufficient force to restore coil 33 from its position of Fig. 9 or 10 to its position of Fig, 4 or 5, the iinal centering of the coil 33' in its neutral position being due to spring 41. The restoring of spring 5| to its normal position will lower its free end portion 56 from the position of Fig. l0 to the position of Fig. 5, thereby allowing angular lever 'l2 to be restored to its normal position of Fig. 5 whereupon the electrical spring contacts 55, 66 are free to separate under their own tension since pressure thereon through angular lever I2 has been removed and since biasing spring 31 is now restrained by arm 63 of the coin trigger. It will also be obvious that coin vane under the restoring force of spring 5|, will be restored from its deflected position of Fig. 9 to its normal vertical position of Fig. 4 to maintain trap I9 in a coin supporting position until the coil 33 is again traversed by energizing current after the next closure of contacts 65, 56.

It will be obvious after a deposited coin has caused the closure of contacts 65, S3 that the coin may be refunded if the voltage applied to line conductor 1".' is of the opposite polarity to that employed for collection. In such an event, coil 33 will be deected from its neutral position of Fig. 4 to its refund position of Fig. l2 whereby vane iii is deflected to the left as shown in Fig. 12 and the coins on the coin trap are discharged into refund chute M. The refund movement of coil 33 also deflects the U-shaped spring 5) to lift its upper free end and since arm 'l5 of angular lever l2 rests on this spring end 55, it follows that lever 'l2 will be tilted in the same manner as heretofore described to restore coin trigger 3 to normal and to permit contacts 65, 55 to be reopened by the movement of coil 33 from its refund position of Fig. l2 to its neutral position of Fig. 4.

The leads |64, |35 for coil 33 may be taken off in any suitable manner and connected to terminals |86, |31 to enable the moving coil to be connected in the substation circuit in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

With respect to the coin relay disclosed as part of the above-described apparatus, it will be apparent that only one side of the moving coil 33 lies in the air-gap of the magnetic circuit since the coil encircles the return path and the air-gap is located between the free end of permanent magnet 23 and the curved portion of the return path 25. Provision for play in the linkage between the coil arm 32 andthe coin vane lill enables coil 33 to m-ove through a small initial angle against a fixed spring tension due to one of the springs 4l', before picking up the coin load. This has the desirable feature of providing a close margin between operate and non-operate voltages since it eliminates the effect of variations in the'coin load in determining operate voltage whereby the operate condition for the coil is controlled solely by a fixed spring tension acting on the coil at its neutral position.

It is also desirable that the pull exerted by coil 33 increase sharply from its value in the neutral position to that applying at the coil position where the coin trap load is picked up. Such a pull characteristic may be obtained by slotting the pole face and by providing a gap in the return path at the neutral position of the coil. In the drawings, .the slot 29, 29 in the pole face and gap 21, 2l" in the return path are shown as substantially equal widths with the actual length of `coil 33 somewhat less than the length of the gap or slot. This break in the return path 26 at the coil neutral position increase the force developed by the coil after its initial movement. This action is due to the fact that in consequence of this break when the coil is moved away from neutral position the flux of the leading turns of the coil passes through the remaining turns into the pole face, follows the magnetic path of the permanent magnet and back up the arm of the return path into which the coil arm is moving; and this additional flux is always such as to aid motion in the direction away from neutral position and therefore increases the effective torque acting on the coil arm. The effect of the gap in the return path is to greatly reduce the flux acting in the coil neutral position so that the coil can be held in this'neutral position by a pair of light tensioned springs. When the current traversing the coil produces a pull sufficient to overcome the initial tension, the coil and its arms move and the pull increases until the coil lies'wholly between the return path and the full section of the pole face.

The use of two pairs of springs, one pair al, 48 acting to-tension the coil 33 in its neutral position while the other pairr 50, l acts to return the coil to neutral position when the energizing current has been removed, facilitates their separate adjustment to meet the operate and release requirements for the relay.

It will be noted that the pivoting axis for coil 33 is at a substantial distance below the pivoting axis of coin vane 40 so as to decrease the arc through which the coil 33 must move in either direction to obtain a full deection of the coinvane.

While it will generally be preferable to employ the symmetrical magnetic circuit of Figs. 1 to 3, space requirements may make it desirable in some instances to employ a non-symmetrical arrangement as shown in Fig. 14, where the permanent magnet 99 is at a substantial angle from the vertical and the return path 9| is shaped to conform with the angular position of the magnet. In Fig. 14 the movable coil 92 is shown in its neutral position, in which position it is normally maintained by the tension springs 93, 94 functioning in the same manner as springs 41', 48 of the earlier gures. The same loose coupling between the coil arm 95 and the coin vane pin 9S is employed as in the earlier figures, since arm` 91 embracing vane pin 93 has a stud 93 working in a slot 99 n the coil supporting arm 95. The two U-shaped springs 100, IBI perform the same functions as in the earlier figures to restore coil 92 to its normal position after it has been deected in either direction and to reset the coin trigger |02 and reopen the springcontacts |03.

Except for the above-described change in the magnetic circuit, the coin relay of Fig. 14 operates in the same manner as the coin relay previously described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin collector, a relay comprising a substantially closed pathof magnetic material having an arcuate-shaped portion, an arm of magnetic material joined at one end to said path with an air-gap between its other end and said arcuate portion, said material including means for producing a magnetic potential therein,said arcuate portion having an air-gap at an intermediate point adjacent said arm, a movable coil encircling said arcuate portion with one side of said coil between said arm and said arcuate portion, and means for biasing said coil to a neutral position surrounding the air-gap in said 'arcuate portion.

2. In a coin col1ector,a relay comprising a substantially closed path of magnetic material having an arcuate-shaped portion, a permanent magnet joined 'at onelend to said path, a polepiece on the other end of said-magnet with an air-gap between said pole-piece and said arcuate portion, said pole-piece being slotted at a point adjacent an intermediate point on said arcuate portion, said arcuate portion having an air-gap at said intermediate point, a solenoidal coil encircling said arcuate portion, and means for biasing said coil to a neutral position surrounding said air-gap in said arcuate portion, the length of Asaid coil being less lthan the width of said slot and less than the length of said airgap in said arcuate portion.

3. In a coin collector, a relay comprising a magnetic circuit including a permanent magnet and a D-shaped return path of magnetic material, one end of said magnet being joined to theV straight portion of said path, a pole-piece on the free end of said magnet with an air-gap between said pole-piece and the curved portion vof said path, said curved portion having an air-gap at an intermediate point thereof adjacent said pole-piece, said pole-piece extending for a substantial distance in both directions from the airgap in said curved portion, a movable coil encircling said curved portion, and means for biasing said coil to a neutral position with said coil surrounding said 'air-gap in said curved portion. A

4. In a coin collector, a relay comprising a permanent magnet, a coil adapted to be `traversed by an electric current and positioned in the field of said magnet, means pivoted on a horizontal axis for supporting said coil for movement along a curved path having a radius of curvature substantially greater than the diameter of said coil, a rotatable member pivoted about a substantially horizontal axis, and means for coupling said member to said coil supporting means, the pivoting axis of said member lying in a horizontal plane between said coil and the pivoting axis of said coil whereby the deflection of said coil through a given angle produces a greater angular deection of said member.

ROBERT L. PEEK, J a. 

